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Sep 26, 2017 - Welcome back to the new academic year and to this special edition of our school inspection update (SIU).
School inspection update: special edition September 2017

Message to inspectors from the National Director, Education Welcome back to the new academic year and to this special edition of our school inspection update (SIU). I hope you have enjoyed a relaxing summer. I know for many pupils, parents, teachers and school leaders, it’s been a summer of heightened anticipation pending the release of results for the reformed A-level and GCSE qualifications. And now here we are again at the start of the academic year. The results of those exams will have meant celebrations for most and some disappointment for others, but most of all we need to remember that the hard work of teachers and school leaders has not just been about planning for and delivering the new specifications. Teachers’ hard work and dedication are what has enabled the vast majority of pupils to learn, during their time at school, through a curriculum that will prepare them well for their futures. As I stated in my blog post in March, data is ‘a signpost, not a destination for inspection’. Ensuring that inspectors use data in valid and reliable ways was a main theme for our school inspectors’ conferences this week. Her Majesty’s Inspectors (HMI) and Ofsted Inspectors (OI) have attended conferences across the country this week to train together and develop their practice on three main themes. Those themes were: assessing the capacity and impact of school leaders and managers, especially in schools in challenging circumstances; inspecting the practice and impact of safeguarding in schools; and examining the new inspection data summary reports (IDSRs) and how they can be used to support reliable, meaningful judgements of pupils’ outcomes. As part of that training, we heard from Daisy Christodoulou, Director of Education at No More Marking, about why understanding reliability and validity in both summative and formative assessment is so critical to our inspection practice. The focus on making reliable inferences and judgements about pupils’ outcomes is one reason why we decided to write this special edition of SIU. It reinforces our main messages from the conferences and includes a range of links to material that inspectors can use in following up the training. We should all have a common understanding about what the qualification reforms mean and the implications of the results we have seen this August. Equally, we need School inspection update September 2017 | Special edition

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a clear understanding of expectations about how inspectors will work with leaders in schools when evaluating outcomes and assessment practices. There should be no knee-jerk reactions to the new GCSE or A-level results this year and no overinterpretation of variability in results at school level. At the conferences, we announced that we will provide data analyst support for inspectors. Part of this support is the new data analyst helpdesk which is designed to give guidance and advice to inspectors so that A-level and GCSE results, patterns of entry and other queries can be discussed with our statistics experts. We are asking that lead inspectors for secondary school inspections call to talk to one of the data analyst team when: there is substantial variability in the school’s GCSE results so that our analysts can help you to interpret this variability and how meaningful this is to your analysis of examination data; or when the school’s English and/or mathematics GCSE results appear to have dropped. Our analysts will help you to assess the significance of such a change. You should also call if your interpretation of the data is different to that of the school. This is especially important before the publication of the new inspection data summary reports later this term. A brief summary of the discussion with the analyst must be recorded for the evidence base. This coming year, we will continue to focus sharply on inspecting, challenging and reporting on any unusual examination entry patterns that are to the detriment of future opportunities for pupils. This is not a new message and in several speeches this year, HMCI and I have reinforced this message about unacceptable practice. Before closing, I wanted to make you aware that by the second half of this term, we will publish an update to the school inspection handbooks to set out the changes needed to the process of inspection following our consultation on short inspections in the summer. Can I please stress that none of the changes means we are inspecting anything additional or new. There will be a number of minor changes also to tidy up the handbooks where necessary. We hope this special edition of SIU will be a valuable resource to complement other materials that inspectors received at the school conferences. We are grateful to Ofqual for their continued liaison with us to ensure the main messages are clear as we commence the new term. If there are matters in this edition that you need further clarification about please do contact the new data analyst helpdesk. Best wishes

Sean Harford HMI National Director, Education

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Main messages for inspectors 1. 2017 marks a year of significant changes to GCSE examinations. Inspectors should not compare results from last year with results this year for the new GCSEs. For secondary school inspections, please call the data analysts, who will help you to understand these changes. 2. There will be some variability in attainment at school level as a result of changes to the qualifications and numerical grading. However, overall, the outcomes of the 2017 GCSE results are stable. Small fluctuations from previous years at school level should not be over interpreted; talk to our analysts about the significance of any variation. 3. At A level, the results for both the reformed and non-reformed qualifications are also stable. There has been no major variability in results at national level. Small fluctuations at provider level should not be over-interpreted. 4. Changes in specifications, assessment and examinations may result in changes in the behaviours of schools. Always consider whether decisions made by leaders and managers are in the best interests of pupils. 5. Assessment data and information is only a starting point for discussion with schools. It is far from the only piece of evidence that informs judgements about outcomes. 6. Inspectors will use ‘meaningful data’ to inform areas for investigation. They will not focus on single measures with small cohorts. 7. Inspectors should continue to treat data from teacher assessments at the end of key stage 2 with caution.

New, reformed GCSEs: the first year of results 2017 headline messages We have been working with Ofqual to ensure that we provide inspectors with the main messages about this year’s new GCSE examination results. Ofqual has produced summary reports and useful interactive guides that can be used to complement the training materials from the remit conferences. These are also available to schools, so this will support a common understanding. There are three main headline messages that Ofqual has issued regarding the new 2017 GCSE results:  The overall GCSE outcomes are stable.  Overall results for 16-year-olds in English language, English literature and mathematics are stable at grade C/4 when comparing combined GCSE and international GCSE outcomes last summer with GCSE outcomes this summer.

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 For the reformed GCSE qualifications in English language and mathematics, outcomes for 16-year-olds in England are broadly similar to what Ofqual was expecting.1 Inspectors can use the links below from Ofqual to understand the headline messages and in examining any variability at school level:  an infographic about this year’s GCSE results: www.gov.uk/government/publications/infographic-gcse-results-2017  an interactive tool from Ofqual that gives access to information about variability of results at school level: www.gov.uk/government/publications/variability-in-gcse-results-for-schools2015-to-2017. Reformed qualifications (GCSE English language, English literature and mathematics) In addition to the main messages above, inspectors should know the following:  Examination entries in the three reformed GCSEs have increased from 1.2 million in 2016 to 1.6 million in 2017.  There is an increased uptake of English literature in 2017, with more schools entering pupils. The mean number of entries per school has increased from 120 in 2016 to 131 in 2017.  Fewer pupils (53%) were entered for the higher tier in GCSE mathematics in 2017 than in 2016 (76%). This reflects differences in content and demand of both the tiers. Overall results in mathematics are stable. This shows that this change in entry has not impacted on the overall mathematics results.  Just over 2,000 pupils achieved a grade 9 in all three reformed GCSE subjects.  The most common grade combination was two grade 5s and one grade 4.  The level of variation between 2016 and 2017 at grade C/4 attainment is generally similar to last year. For GCSE English language, there is slightly more variation in results this year.  For GCSE English literature and mathematics, the small variability seen in 2017 is very similar to last year.  In terms of grade 7/A, the variability between 2016 and 2017 is also similar to variation in previous years.

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https://ofqual.blog.gov.uk/2017/04/05/setting-grade-9-in-new-gcses/

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Unreformed GCSE qualifications Inspectors should be aware also of the following headline messages about those GCSEs as yet unreformed:  Around the same number of pupils were entered for unreformed GCSEs (around 2.9 million) as last year.  For science, there have been changes in entry patterns and the number of year 10 entries in combined science dropped from 121,000 to around 1,000. This is because the year 10 students will take the new reformed science specifications in 2018. Progress 8: the impact of GCSE reforms What inspectors need to know:  In calculating Progress 8 scores, reformed GCSEs use the 9 to 1 points scale.  Legacy GCSEs have grades A* to G mapped onto points from 8.5 to 1 as in the table below. A pupil’s increase of one grade from B or A is 1.5 points, and from G or F is 0.5 points.  For 2017 results, Progress 8 will use reformed GCSEs for English and mathematics, and legacy GCSEs for other subjects.  Only the approved technical awards and vocational qualifications will count towards Progress 8. GCSE grade

A*

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

2016 points

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

2017 and 2018 points

8.5

7

5.5

4

3

2

1.5

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Implications for inspectors The way Attainment 8 scores have been re-scaled to 2017 points means that schools with high proportions of high prior attainers, such as selective schools, may have higher Attainment 8 scores for legacy GCSEs in 2017 than they would have had for 2016. Most other schools could see a small decrease in the Attainment 8 scores although other effects, such as the reformed qualifications and behaviour changes, mean it is very difficult to predict Attainment 8 and Progress 8 in 2017.

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Progress 8 and Attainment 8 will be available when the checking data is available from 26 September 2017. Schools are not able to calculate Progress 8 before this date because the data for all schools is needed for the calculation. The Association for School and College Leaders (ASCL) has produced a data toolkit for their members. This allows schools to reproduce Progress 8 and Attainment 8 graphs from ASP once the checking data is available. Inspectors may be presented with this kind of information from the ASCL toolkit and should review this with leaders and managers in discussions about pupil performance. If offered this data, inspectors will want to discuss them with the data analyst helpdesk. When 2017 Attainment and Progress 8 scores are available, they will not be directly comparable with the 2016 figures because schools may have changed their entry patterns as a result of the new GCSEs. For example, more pupils are likely to have been entered for GCSE English literature; this is also likely to have an impact on results over time if more low prior attainment pupils are being entered. In addition, Ofqual has noted that schools have entered fewer pupils into the higher tier mathematics paper where the higher grades are possible. Entry patterns will be changing across a number of GCSEs and inspectors will need to ensure that they review the entry patterns at Year 11 and for some at Year 10 with school leaders. Teaching the new linear GCSE qualifications will require a different approach in curriculum design, implementation and delivery. Some new GCSEs will be assessed for the first time in 2018, so inspectors need to be aware of how schools are dealing with these changes. Headline accountability measures From the 2017 results, it is important that inspectors remember that for the headline school accountability measures, the grade 5 or above (strong pass) is used. The headline attainment measures are:  the percentage of pupils achieving a grade 5 or above in English and mathematics, and  the percentage of pupils achieving the EBacc at grade 5 or above in English and mathematics, and at grade C or above in the other EBacc subjects. Inspectors should continue to consider a wide range of measures to inform their judgements on outcomes. Therefore, as well as the headline attainment measure, inspectors will take into account the percentage of pupils at grade 4 or above in English and mathematics, as well as the percentage of pupils in a school achieving the EBacc at grade 4/C or above as additional measures. This will also be published in the Department for Education (DfE) performance tables. All of these measures will form part of the information in the Inspection Data Summary Report (IDSR) – see the article later in this edition.

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Progress 8 will continue to be used to determine whether schools meet the floor standard. Both Attainment 8 and Progress 8 measures use points assigned to each grade rather than a threshold at any particular grade. Inspectors are reminded that:  Over the next three years, from 2017 to 2020, pupils will sit a combination of legacy and reformed GCSEs. Only reformed subjects will be available to start studying from 2018.  Until 2020, pupils will receive a mixture of grades A* to C and 9 to 1 grades for the legacy and reformed GCSE subjects.  From 2017, legacy GCSE English and mathematics qualifications will no longer be counted in performance tables. Some subjects, such as ICT, are not being reformed and will not be continued. Start course in 2015

Start course in 2016

Start course in 2017

Start course in 2018

Exams in 2017

Exams in 2018

Exams in 2019

Exams in 2020

English language English literature Mathematics.

Art and design, biology, chemistry, citizenship studies (and short course), combined science, computer science, dance, drama, food preparation and nutrition, French, geography, German, classical Greek, history, Latin, music, physical education, physics, religious studies (including short course), and Spanish.

Ancient history, Arabic, astronomy, Bengali, business, Chinese, classical civilisation, design and technology, economics, electronics, engineering, film studies, geology, Italian, Japanese, media studies, modern Greek, modern Hebrew, Panjabi, physical education short course, Polish, psychology, Russian, sociology, statistics, and Urdu.

Gujarati, biblical Hebrew, Persian, Portuguese, and Turkish.

The timeline above reminds inspectors about the rollout of the delivery and examination of the reformed GCSE qualifications.

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‘Gaming the system’ and examination entry patterns Inspectors must continue to sustain a sharp focus on challenging leaders and managers about unusual patterns of examination entry that appear to ‘game the system’. Inspectors should scrutinise any evidence where it shows that leaders have entered pupils for qualifications with significant subject overlap. Over the last 18 months, in previous editions of SIU and in training for inspectors, we have explained why such decisions are to the detriment of the school curriculum choices for pupils and their personal development. This has also been a key focus in the thematic survey of the curriculum. In designing and implementing a curriculum, which is, as the Chief Inspector said, ‘about the real meat of education’, we will be critical of these kinds of choices leaders make. In our new IDSR, we will indicate for inspectors whether there are ‘areas to investigate’ that may suggest gaming is taking place. Working with our data analysts we will be monitoring, for example:  high entries for qualifications that are not core subjects or do not reflect the specialisms of the school, often of a technical or vocational nature not suited to the majority of pupils: an example of this in 2017 is a high level of European Computer Driving Licence (ECDL) entry; inspectors should note that ECDL will not count towards performance tables from 2018 onwards  double entry in qualifications that overlap in content, for example: statistics and free standing mathematics qualifications; GCSE English and IGCSE English as a second language qualifications for pupils who have English as a first language  entry for GCSEs in English language and English literature when the latter is not taught with sufficient time to support effective achievement, or is entered early, but pupils sit the examination to ensure that the language result is counted as double for the Attainment and Progress 8 scores. We also continue to be concerned that some schools are moving pupils out of mainstream education to alternative provision or moving pupils to other schools whose rolls are not full. This pattern of ‘off-rolling’ should be scrutinised by inspectors.

Implications for inspectors If there are potential gaming issues within a school, including off-rolling, lead inspectors of secondary school inspections will be alerted to this either via the IDSR or through discussions with our analyst support team. If inspectors have any concerns about a school’s curriculum, qualification entries or any patterns of ‘off-rolling’, they must discuss them with the school leaders during School Inspection Update September 2017 |Issue 11

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the inspection. This should inform the evaluation of evidence for the effectiveness of leadership and management and outcomes for pupils.

The new 2017 A- and AS-level qualifications and results On 17 August 2017, results for the new, reformed A levels were published for 13 subjects. New AS-level results in these subjects were available for the 2016 data. AS and A levels were decoupled so that AS results no longer count towards an A level in the new exams. They are entirely separate qualifications. Assessment is mainly by exam, with other types of assessment used only where they are needed to test essential skills. Ofqual’s analysis, published at www.gov.uk/government/news/guide-to-as-and-alevel-results-for-england-2017, shows that at a national level and at provider level results are relatively stable.

Main messages  Results for the reformed and non-reformed A levels are stable. Inspectors must not over-interpret small variations in year-on-year results nor make comparisons. There are some slight decreases in attainment in some of the reformed qualifications, but this is largely due to changes in the prior attainment of pupils. For example, the proportion of students getting the top marks in sciences has decreased slightly but this is linked to prior attainment of the cohort.  Any variation at provider level in the reformed qualifications is very similar to the previous year.  The number of entries for AS qualifications has fallen. This is not an unexpected pattern with the reforms to qualifications.  Results for modern foreign languages (MFL) have increased slightly. For 2017, Ofqual agreed with the exam boards an adjustment to their statistical predictions in French, German and Spanish. The predictions were adjusted by +1% at grade A.  For A-level science, 2017 is the first year of the practical endorsement. Pupils received a grade for the A level and a pass or an unclassified for the practical endorsement.

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The timeline below reminds inspectors about the rollout of the delivery and examination of the reformed AS and A level qualifications. Start course in 2015

Start course in 2016

Start course in 2017

Start course in 2018

AS exams in 2016

AS exams in 2017

AS exams in 2018

N/A

A level exams in 2017

A level exams in 2018

A level exams in 2019

A level exams in 2020

Art and design, biology, business, chemistry, computer science, economics, English language, English literature, history, physics, psychology, and sociology.

Ancient languages (classical Greek, Latin), dance, drama and theatre, geography, modern foreign languages (French, German, Spanish), music, physical education, religious studies.

Accounting, ancient history, classical civilisation, design and technology, electronics, environmental science, film studies, further mathematics, geology, government and politics, history of art (A level only), law, mathematics, media studies, modern foreign languages (Chinese, Italian, Russian), music technology, philosophy, and statistics.

Ancient languages, modern foreign languages (Arabic, Bengali, Gujarati, Greek, Japanese, modern Hebrew, Punjabi, Persian, Polish, Portuguese, Turkish, Urdu).

Useful links The links below provide inspectors with useful summaries and resources about the 2017 outcomes for GCSE, AS- and A-level qualifications: www.gov.uk/government/news/guide-to-gcse-results-for-england2017www.gov.uk/government/publications/infographic-gcse-results-2017 www.gov.uk/government/publications/variability-in-gcse-results-for-schools-2015-to2017 http://analytics.ofqual.gov.uk/ www.gov.uk/government/publications/monitoring-gcse-as-and-a-level-examssummer-2017 www.gov.uk/government/news/guide-to-as-and-a-level-results-for-england-2017 School Inspection Update September 2017 |Issue 11

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www.gov.uk/government/publications/get-the-facts-gcse-and-a-level-reform/get-thefacts-as-and-a-level-reform www.gov.uk/government/news/guide-to-as-and-a-level-results-for-england-2017 https://ofqual.blog.gov.uk/2017/02/03/grade-boundaries-the-problems-withpredictions/

New data tools for inspectors and schools Over the last eight months, we have been reviewing our approach to looking at the performance of groups in schools. The breaking down of data into smaller and smaller groups compromises its use on inspection to inform valid judgements on outcomes. This manifests itself most acutely where we look at the intersection of several characteristics simultaneously, for example previously high-attaining, disadvantaged boys. Over focusing on the performance of groups when these intersections mean the data are less than robust, can result in schools taking actions with individual groups when effort would be better spent on approaches that have an impact for all pupils. This is not to say that we are downgrading the importance of evaluating how well leaders improve, for example, outcomes for disadvantaged and vulnerable pupils. We will continue to inspect and report on the performance of these pupils where appropriate, but inspectors must be cautious in making any inferences about underperformance of small numbers of pupils in schools in any group. We know that particular sub-groups can be far too small for leaders or inspectors to state with confidence that there is underperformance. Inspectors should talk to leaders about the quality of teaching, behaviour and the design and delivery of the curriculum to examine why there may be underperformance for some pupils. It is getting to the essence of the daily experience of pupils right across the curriculum that is crucial before inspectors make judgements about pupils in sub-group sets of data.

The new inspection data summary report We have developed a new style data report, the IDSR. This will replace the previous inspection dashboard when the 2017 data is released later in the autumn term. From the training at the recent conferences, inspectors will understand the changes we have made from working with examples of the new IDSR. The IDSR includes context pages, showing pupil characteristics, year group data and prior attainment. It includes a front page showing an overview of the data, and ‘areas to investigate’. This is an important shift for inspectors. The ‘areas to investigate’ will indicate what could be substantive, meaningful issues according to the data that would warrant lines of enquiry to pursue. The new IDSR contains fewer detailed breakdowns of groups than the previous inspection dashboard. It looks at trends and whether the group, where relevant and meaningful, has been performing well or poorly over time. The IDSR will also indicate whether the school is School inspection update September 2017 | Special edition

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below floor standards and whether the school is coasting according to the DfE’s published definition.2 For key stage 2 and key stage 4 progress data, the report will indicate trends in terms of the relative position of the school compared with all schools across the past three years. Percentile ranks will be shown for each year, with a clear indication of the position in terms of quintile, where each quintile represents 20% of schools. Red borders will indicate where a figure was, statistically, significantly below national; green borders will indicate where it was, statistically, significantly above national.

We have included scatterplots for key performance measures. These will help inspectors identify clusters of pupils and outliers that may have affected average data.

Understanding the use of outliers We would like to remind inspectors that a school’s progress scores at key stages 2 and 4 could have been affected by outliers. Outliers are pupils with extremely high or low progress scores. Some pupils will have a very low progress score because they were not entered for an approved qualification or were absent for the examination.  For secondary school inspections, data analysts on the helpdesk will support inspectors to interpret the impact of individual pupils on the Progress 8 score.  For primary school inspections, extreme outliers can be identified from the scatterplots in the IDSR.

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www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-and-college-performance-tables-statements-of-intent

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Teacher assessments: treat with caution We have reported in previous editions of SIU and discussed with inspectors at our training the continuing uncertainties about data derived from teacher assessments. Inspectors should continue to interpret key stage 2 writing performance very carefully. Issues identified for 2016 data may persist in 2017. Inspectors should also be aware of potential issues with the reliability of key stage 1 teacher assessments. We know from national data that pupils at junior schools, on average, have higher attainment scores at the end of key stage 2 than pupils at all other primary schools. However, they also have lower progress scores. This suggests that there may be an issue with the key stage 1 prior attainment scores that are used as a baseline. Inspectors should be aware of this when using and interpreting data for different school types.

Using meaningful data At the training conferences, we discussed what is meant by ‘meaningful data’ and why this is important. Data on groups can be rendered meaningless due to the small numbers of pupils and high variation in their results. This does not mean that a pupil group is not important. Speaking to a range of pupils and talking to leaders about performance of different pupil groups remains important in our framework. For example, pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities often make up a diverse group and tend to have very small numbers of pupils at school level. As such, averages for this group’s performance in a school are likely to have a degree of unreliability. However, inspectors will still want to look at pupils in these groups in every year group in a school. We have included the pupil characteristics by year group in the context data in the IDSR.

The new system changes for analysing data Analyse School Performance (ASP) and other systems being developed and used in schools  The replacement for RAISEonline is a web-based system called Analyse School Performance (ASP).  HMI were sent an email in April 2017 with login details for ASP. You can contact [email protected] if you are unable to locate access details. Ofsted Inspectors (OIs) will continue to get access to data via inspection team rooms. There are eight other accredited suppliers, who will present school performance data to schools. These are listed at: https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/0af29078-7e1d-4d538b72-1c6f2889b431 School inspection update September 2017 | Special edition

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Implications for inspectors Schools will be able to choose to purchase any one of these eight new data systems or to use ASP alone. It is therefore likely that inspectors will receive assessment information from school leaders that have been generated through one or more of these eight systems. Our data analyst team will provide inspectors with updates about these eight suppliers and information about the differences in the systems in briefings during the autumn term.

The EBacc consultation – the government response On 19 July 2017, the government published the response to the EBacc consultation. You can find this at: www.gov.uk/government/consultations/implementing-the-english-baccalaureate Summary of main points Inspectors should understand and be familiar with the main points in the published response. The main messages are explained below:  Studying the EBacc should become the expectation for the vast majority of pupils. It is the government’s ambition that 75% of Year 10 pupils in statefunded mainstream schools should be starting to study EBacc GCSE courses nationally by 2022 (taking their exams in 2024), rising to 90% by 2025 (taking their exams in 2027).  Schools should still be able to determine the small minority of pupils for whom taking all of the EBacc subjects is not appropriate. In doing so, they should consider the overall impact that not entering the EBacc subjects will have on the options available to the pupil and their progression to post-16 education.  From 2016, the proportion of pupils entering the EBacc subjects became one of the headline measures of secondary school performance alongside the EBacc attainment measure. From 2018, it is intended that an EBacc average point score that measures scores across the five pillars of the EBacc will replace the existing headline EBacc attainment measure in secondary school performance tables. At this point, there will be two EBacc headline measures: EBacc entry and EBacc average point score. From 2019, the DfE also intends to publish EBacc entry and attainment data for mainstream secondary schools that have similar intakes, and a value added measure on EBacc entry.

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 As now, no single measure, including EBacc entry and achievement rates, will determine the outcome of a school inspection. Ofsted will not be setting any particular thresholds within those measures to determine inspection outcomes. For example, Ofsted will not be saying that only schools with over a certain proportion of pupils entered for the EBacc can achieve ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ grade.  The DfE intends to continue to publish the same performance data, EBacc data, for all institutions included in the key stage 4 performance tables. However, there are some education settings where it would not be appropriate to expect the same rates of EBacc entry as mainstream schools. These settings include university technical colleges (UTCs), studio schools, further education colleges with key stage 4 provision, special schools and alternative provision. The pupil cohorts in these education settings will therefore not be included in the calculation of the 75% ambition for 2022, or the 90% ambition for 2025.  The government is committed to ensuring that all students have access to a broad and balanced curriculum, and schools have a duty to provide this. The EBacc, while comprehensive, still enables pupils to continue to study additional subjects that reflect their individual interests and particular strengths. Implications for UTCs and other providers  UTCs, studio schools and a small number of further education colleges, that offer key stage 4 to pupils aged 14 to 16 provide a specialist technical and professional education. Pupils who attend these institutions choose to specialise in a technical or professional area at age 14. Each of these types of school should consider carefully whether its specialist curriculum is compatible with the full EBacc. Where it is, they should offer the EBacc subjects and should consider on a case-by-case basis whether pupils should be entered for them.  However, the DfE will continue to publish the same data for all institutions included in the key stage 4 performance tables to enable parents to compare education settings based on a common set of clear and transparent performance data.

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The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) regulates and inspects to achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for children looked after, safeguarding and child protection. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email [email protected]. You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence, write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: [email protected]. This publication is available at www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted. Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn. Piccadilly Gate Store Street Manchester M1 2WD T: 0300 123 1231 E: [email protected] W: www.gov.uk/ofsted © Crown copyright 2017

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